


Just Like Magic

by Ky13e



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bad at tagging, Bonding, Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter Friendship, Epic Friendship, Hogwarts First Year, Humor, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, Letters, M/M, Quidditch, Secret Crush, Slytherin Draco Malfoy, To make you smile, kind of a rewrite, no beta we die like men, what house will harry be in? I dont know
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:08:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27208639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ky13e/pseuds/Ky13e
Summary: What if Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy became best friends instead of enemies? How would that change the story? Start's from their first meeting at Madam Malkins until the end of the year.Cross Posted on Wattpad and Fanfic.net
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 8
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter One: Robe fittings, meetings, and beginnings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Anyone wanting to change the story](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Anyone+wanting+to+change+the+story).



Harry Potter stumbles in Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasion, arms filled with school supplies. Madam Malkin, who hated when people clogged up her perfectly spacious store, paused in the middle of pinning another boys’ robes to turn around. “Hogwarts?” she asks. Harry nods slowly. “Then, please move away from the door and sit. Once I’m finished with Mr. Malfoy you can be next.” Madam Malkin turns back abruptly, leaving Harry to sit in one of the comfortable chairs in front of the boy getting fitted.  
Mr. Malfoy turned out not to be a grown man like Harry had thought, but a boy with pale hair and skin. Harry smiles at the boy nervously before dumping his luggage on a chair beside him. The pale-haired boy scoffs. “You have to lug all that junk around? That’s a pity, my mum is carrying my supplies in a special bag. It can never be full.” Harry shrugs. “Hagrid’s carrying most of my books,” he says “But I couldn’t just have him take everything.”  
The boy frowns, making his face look like a ferret, Harry stifles a laugh. “Hagrid? Do you mean that old fool who takes care of Hogwarts? That’s hilarious! I’ve heard that he gets so drunk-” Harry jumps up. “Don’t say another word! Hagrid is a great person.” Neither boy say a word for a few moments, all that can be heard in the store is Madame Malkin’s pins.

“Oh really?” The pale boy drawls, breaking the tense silence. “And who are you? Defender of the stupid I reckon.” Harry clenches his hands. “I’m Harry, for your information.” Ferret Face smiled. “Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. Nice to meet you.” Draco waited for a reaction, but Harry just stared blankly at him. Ignorant fool! He thinks.  
“Now then Harry, what house are you aiming for?” Harry sat down slowly and looked at Draco, confused. “What house? Er, like a farmhouse?” There’s an awkward silence as Draco absorbs this information. “Like the school houses of course! Have you been living under a rock? Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff.” Draco says.  
Harry raises his eyebrows, What are those words. I’ve more or less been living on a rock for the past week” he laughs. “And under stairs the rest of my life!” Draco stares at this crazy-haired, bespectacled, boy in complete shock.  
In the silence, Madame Malkin says “Mr. Malfoy, turn around if you please. And stop moving! This will take all day.” Draco nods and turns to the wall. Harry leans back. “Sorry about that, sometimes I don’t think before speaking,” he says. “So there are four houses, right?” Draco nods. “Er, yeah. You get sorted into them at the beginning of the year..”

Harry thinks about that. “So you stay with the houses for the entire time you’re at school? Sounds brilliant to me.” Draco composes himself and turns his head back to say “Yes, my family has always been in Slytherin. So that’s what house I’m going to be in.” he says confidently. Madam Malkin clears her throat. “Mr. Malfoy, if you do not stand still for at least a moment then your robes will be too small this year,” she says. Draco stills, “Yes Madam Malkin. Sorry.” Harry smiles at Draco’s back. For someone who had such an imperious attitude, Draco definitely was scared of Madam Malkin. A comfortable silence settles in the shop. Harry, absorbing the info about Hogwarts, and Draco, feeling embarrassed by the fact he had gotten scolded in front of a complete stranger.  
Madam Malkin sets down her pins. “Alright, Mr. Malfoy, you’re done. Thank you for coming today.” she drones. Draco nods and starts to take off the robe carefully. Harry straitens in his chair. “You’re done? That was fast.” he stretches. 

Draco goes to stand in front of him. “I guess you’re next then. I’ll be going then…” Harry stands. “Wait, can you stay? You don’t have to, but you seem to know loads of things so maybe-” he stops rambling abruptly at Draco’s look. “Me, help you?” Draco says. “Why should I?” Harry smiles. “Because I don’t know a thing about anything magic and you probably know loads.” He says, trying to butter Draco up. “Aaand, you seem like a good person.” Draco raises an eyebrow. “Hmmm…. I’ll think about it,” he says and walks toward the door. Harry goes to Madam Malkin. “I’m ready for my fitting Madam.”


	2. Chapter Two: A Nimbus 3000

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco decides to stay with Harry while he's getting fitted for his robes. Then the boys go explore.

The sound of Madam Malkin’s pins coupled with the overall silence in the shop was making Harry sleepy. When the bell rang, Harry jumped at the sound. Madam Malkin stabbed his shoulder with a sharp pin. “Ouch!” he yells. He looks up to see Draco standing in front of him. “Oh, hey Draco. So you’ve decided to stay?” Draco nods. “There’s nothing better to do.”

Harry smiles, grateful that even though his only acquaintance was grumpy, he actually knew someone who could help him. “Sit, my fitting may take less than yours though.” Draco takes a seat and stares at Harry pointedly. “What do you want to know?” he says. Harry thinks for a moment. “What’s Quidditch? I heard some wizards talking about it on the way here. Is it food?” Draco almost laughs at the absurdity, “No, it’s a sport Harry. A really popular one at that.” It takes a while for Draco to explain everything he needed to know about Quidditch, but Harry eventually got it.  
“Alright, Mr.- what’s your name again? You are done, just sign a few things so I may send your robes to you.” Madam Malkin says. Harry takes the quill that had been poking him and writes his name on the papers before setting them face down on a nearby desk. “Thank you, Madam!” Harry says. Then he turns to Draco. “Shall we go then? I’m starving!” Harry grabs his supplies, piling them up in one hand to open the door. Draco follows, debating with himself if he should help or not. 

Draco walks alongside Harry, who points and gasps at shops and people. “Stop that! You are making us seem like tourists,” he says. Harry laughs. “But I am a tourist Draco! Woah, what’s that?” Harry points to a large crowd gathered in front of a window. “Come on, let’s look!” he shifts his bags into his right hand and grabs Draco’s hand. Draco looked down, startled. Harry takes off running, with Draco in tow.   
When they get to the window after pushing through the crowd, Harry pushes his face to the window. “Wow, just a broom? This is what everyone wants to see?” Draco catches his breath before answering. “That’s not just a broom Harry. It’s the Nimbus 3000!” he says excitedly. “The fasted broom in the world, my fathers getting me one for school.” Harry looks back at the Nimbus in a new light. “That’s amazing!”

Draco pulls Harry away. “Time to go, we’re fogging up the glass. Let’s get food,” he says to Harry. “Fine. But can we come back?” The two boys push through the crowd, only staying together because of their still held hands.


	3. Chapter Three: Food & Farewells

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exploring zaps a lot of energy from a boy. As they gorge themselves on Fish 'n Chips, Harry and Draco talk about the wizarding world. Hagrid appears to take Harry back to the Dursley's. The boys agree to owl each other over the rest of the summer.

Draco stifled a laugh. “Talking while eating doesn’t make the food taste better you know,” he says. “And it's disgusting.” Harry ignores him, shoving more chips in his mouth. Draco, on the other hand, was eating his fish and chips in what most people would call a more dignified way to eat. After finally swallowing his bite, Harry smiled. “I was just saying how great this food is, it’s almost…..-” he paused, not sure if his thought was stupid. “Magical?” Draco finishes for him. “Well, it is. What do you expect?”

Harry gasped. “The food is really magical here? Woah.” then Harry stops, seeing Draco’s smirk. “You are so gullible, this food isn’t any more different than what muggles make,” Draco says. With a sigh, Harry nibbles dejectedly at a piece of chip. Draco eats silently, trying not to look at the now silent boy across him. Was he waiting for an apology? From him? Well, he wasn’t going to oblige. Not for anything. He looks up at Harry again, who was staring down at his plate. Draco composes himself and sighs. “Look, I’m sorry about that. I’m just not used to someone knowing so little about our world.” Harry glances up with a small smile. “Thanks, Draco.”

The moment is broken by a loud voice yelling, “‘Arry! ‘Arry! There yer are!” Hagrid squeezes through tables towards them. Harry waves weakly. “Hey, Hagrid,” he says. “Sorry for leaving like that.” Hagrid waved his large hand. “It’s no problem. Just imagine if had lost the ‘Arry Po-” he stops, suddenly looking at Draco with an uncharacteristic frown. “Your, er, making friends ‘Arry?” he says slowly but not in the least in a lower volume than before. Harry smiles and nods. “Yes, this is Draco. He’s been telling me about magic and other things. I’ve got a lot of things to catch up on.” he laughs. 

Draco rolls his eyes. “Not really, you just need to learn everything I was taught when I was five.” Harry stares at Draco for a second before laughing again. Draco frowns, not thinking what he said was even remotely funny. Hagrid laughed awkwardly. “Well, anyways ‘Arry, we need ter be off. Lots more ter buy.” Harry nodded and stood, gathering his bags. Draco got up as well, leaving a few galleons on the table. “Goodbye Draco, guess I’ll see you on the Express?” Harry asks, barely concealing the hope in his voice. Draco allowed himself a small nod, “Yes. Goodbye.” he says stiffly. The black-haired boy turns to go follow the large gatekeeper.

“Wait!” Harry stops and looks back at Draco, who was gaping at himself for saying anything. “Er, you left something Harry,” he says quickly. He bends to pick up a small bag that had been dropped by Harry. With a smile, Harry takes it. “Thanks, Draco! Imagine if I had left it here.” Draco nods absentmindedly. “Er Harry? Do you want to owl over the rest of the summer?” Harry smiles, “Of course, that would be great Draco!” With that, Harry waves at the pale-faced boy before walking away to catch up with Hagrid. Draco lets out the breath he’d been holding. That was easier than he had thought was possible. He walks in the opposite direction to find his mother, who was probably losing whatever marbles she still had.


	4. Chapter Four: Letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the next month, Harry and Draco owl each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This chapter will be told in letters.)~Ky

-/A few days after the meeting at Diagon Alley: 30 days until September 1st\\-

Dear Draco,

Hello! Are you Draco Malfoy or did I remember your address wrong? I hope my owl found you, she seemed a bit anxious when I had tied the letter to her leg… Do you like my owl? Her name is Hedwig, a name she picked for herself by pecking at my school books. Speaking of books, why did we have to get so many? I don’t even want to imagine the amount of homework we’ll be doing in a few months.   
Anyway, how are you? What have you been doing so far this summer? I’ve been spending my time running from Dudley, my horrible cousin.   
Oh no, Uncle Vernon, is at the door, yelling at me to go to bed. Got to go, write back soon!

From Harry, that boy you met a few days ago, hopefully not forgotten. 

To Harry,

How do you expect me to answer all of those questions? It seems that’s all you do, ask too many questions. Where do they come from? Yes, you remembered my address. I’m surprised you did. Hedwig seems to be an, ah, good owl. She’s nipping my fingers to hurry up at this very moment. Maybe you should get her trained. The amount of books is a bit concerning to even me. Will we ever have free time? I’ve started skimming them because of the lack of anything to do here. Besides that, I haven’t found much of anything to do this summer.   
The weather hasn’t helped much, I’ve been meaning to practice flying on my broom. The rest of my days are filled with boredom. My summer is not that interesting so far. Now let me ask you a question for a change. Who are you living with? They sound like some bloody horrible people.

-From Draco Malfoy, who is only answering all these questions because he’s bored.

-/Two weeks later: 16 days until September 1st\\-

D.

You need to stop sending those hilarious drawings! When I got your letter last night, I laughed so hard Dudley almost punched me in the face for looking, and I quote, “Like a happy person”. Luckily, I had enough time to shove the drawing in my pocket and run. Besides that one small problem, my day hasn’t completely been the worst.   
The drawing is amazing, as you can expect from the great Draco Malfoy. Have you shown your parents yet? I have a feeling they will think they are as bloody brilliant as I think they are. Did you enjoy my horrible drawing of Hedwig? She would not stay still enough for me to get a good angle. Of course, that’s just my excuse if anyone asks why it’s so badly drawn.   
In your last letter, you mentioned something about ghosts at Hogwarts. What are they like? Can you really go through them? Get back to me when you can, bye!  
-From H., the second-best artist after you

To Harry,

Apologies that my “bloody brilliant” drawing put you in near peril. `In my opinion, your cousin can go fu-. I’m just going to leave the rest to your imagination. My parents could care less about what I do, and much less about my drawings. If my parents ever saw them, which they never will, a conversation about “focusing on work” and “wasting time” would probably follow. Not that I would say the same for your Hedwig drawing. The precision! The emotion! The abstract shape of her rectangle head, on top of an inverted octagon! 

All jokes aside, the drawing is good. It holds the highest honor of being framed on the wall in my bedroom, next to the self-portrait that you sent last week. So now you want to know about the ghosts? When I asked my father, he said that there are house ghosts and even a ghost professor. Although he didn’t go into much detail, my father let slip that there’s a ghost girl in a dungeon girls’ bathroom. Her name is Moaning Gertal? Cercle? Myrtle? Something like that. 

Are you nervous about school too? I’m guessing that because you’ve been asking an awful amount of questions about Hogwarts lately. 

-From Draco Malfoy, the bloodiest most brilliant artist, totally not nervous about school.

-/Two weeks later: One day until September 1st\\-

D.

My trunk is almost all packed, but I think there’s something I’m forgetting. This has to be the most nerve-racking day of my life. The Dursleys are dropping me off tomorrow at about 10. What about you? I bet your parents didn’t laugh when you told them the train was at Platform 9 ¾ like Uncle Vernon did. It felt as though the whole house was shaking with the force of his laugh.   
Counting down the hours until I finally leave. Goodnight!

-From H., the only boy who can’t wait for school to start. 

To Harry,

I know your probably asleep by now, sorry for the late response. My parents were hosting a party, and of course, I had to be there. Not sure why, there were no other kids my age, just old friends of my dad.   
If my parents don’t forget about me and sleep in tomorrow then I should be at Platform 9 ¾ by 10:45 am on the dot. We Malfoys strive to be fashionably late you know.   
Your muggle relatives don’t know what they’re missing, Dudley won’t have just a pigtail to deal with by the time you come back from school.   
In the event I am very late, try to save us a train car on the Express, will you? They get filled up quickly. See you there.

From Draco Malfoy, the fashionably late boy who despises dinner parties.


	5. Chapter Five: Kings Cross Station

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry arrives at Kings Cross with only his trunk, Hedwig, and the knowledge that he needs to be at Platform 9 3/4 by 11:00. After asking a sleepy ticket man, he finds a promising red-haired family that might help him.

The Dursleys only stopped the car for the amount of time it took Harry to jump out and Uncle Vernon to throw his nephew’s trunk to the ground. “Good luck finding Platform 9 ¾. We’re not coming back tonight when you realize this is all a hoax.” Uncle Vernon said, then slammed the car door closed after getting in. Harry got his trunk and turned, not letting his uncle have the satisfaction of seeing Harry’s worried face. Only when he couldn’t hear the rattle of the Dursley’s car as it pulled out of the lot, Harry let out a sigh. This was going just as the boy had expected, horrible.

Hedwig hooted from the cage he was holding, stirring Harry out of his thoughts. He dragged his trunk to the Information desk. The man behind the glass seemed to be asleep, leaning against the wall, spittle drooling from his open mouth. “Excuse me, sir? Sir!” The man’s eyes blink open. He yawns hugely. “Wh- what? Pardon?”  
Harry stifled a laugh. “Hello sir, can I have a cart for my trunk and directions to a platform?” he asks. After another yawn, the man nods and rubs his eyes blearily. “Yes, I suppose so. The carts are by the entrance-” Harry blushes slightly, embarrassed of not seeing the carts earlier. “-And what platform would you be going to?” The man continued.  
There was no escaping it, Harry had to tell him. “Er, Platform 9 ¾ ?” he says slowly. The sleepy man laughs. “That doesn’t exist, what is your platform?” I should’ve asked Draco where the platform is in my last letter, Harry thought to himself. Then I wouldn’t be in this mess.  
Harry repeats the platform number to the man. This time the ticket man just shakes his head. “If this is a joke, it’s not a funny one boy. Tell me the truth this time.” Harry was about to say the platform number again when a woman’s voice shrieked from behind him. “Fred! George! Stop that this instant!” Harry turned to find a group of redheads marching past, trying to catch up with two red-haired boys running ahead at breakneck speed. 

This would have been unextraordinary to Harry if not for the large trunks they were pushing on carts. On top of the trunks were cauldrons and books piled haphazardly. One boy with glasses behind the racers had an owl. The ticket man behind Harry sneered. “I’ve been seeing kids all day with owls, toads, and even a spider! The adults are even stranger, dressing in those weird robes they‘re in. Bunch of freaks.” Harry glared at him and said curtly. “Thank you for the help sir. Have a good day.” After lugging his trunk into a cart and setting Hedwig’s cage on top, Harry pushed the cart until he could hear the family’s voices.

Harry followed the red-haired family from a distance, observing their conversations. It seemed the cart racers were twins, troublemakers at that. The mother was berating them fiercely while holding tightly onto her daughter’s hand. “You boys are a bad example to Ginny, running like that! The Muggles were staring-” One of the twins laughed. “Who cares about what the Muggles think Mum? They will stare at anything if it’s weird enough.”  
The other twin nodded. “And Ginny needs to have bad examples so she knows what not to do.” The mother sighed, exasperated. Harry started to drift to the side, now behind the bespectacled haughty boy and a boy who looked about the same age as Harry.  
“Now Ron, don’t embarrass me in front of Penny- I mean the other students at Hogwarts. I have a reputation to protect.” The glasses boy says. Harry smiled. Hogwarts, that was the school he was going to! Harry, plus the family, passed Platform 7, then 8. Where was the platform they needed? Platform 9 was just ahead, but the redheads didn’t stop until they had passed it.

George and Fred stopped their carts along a wall between Platform 9 and 10. “Can I go first?” they asked at the same time. The twins looked at one another and grinned. “Jinx! Jinx again!” The frazzled mother shook her head at their antics. “George, you go with Percy. Fred with me and Ginny. And Ronald…” The youngest boy looked up at his mother fearfully. “Ronald will have to go with-” she interrupted herself when she spotted Harry staring at them. “Oh hello there!”  
Harry smiled shyly as six pairs of eyes came to rest on him. “H-Hi.” he stammered his brain momentarily in a state of shock. Luckily Hedwig hooted again, expressing how much she wanted to be let out of the cage. The red-haired twins looked at Hedwig curiously. The one on the right nods toward Harry.“Nice owl, never seen a white one.” 

The boy with glasses, Percy, Harry guessed, sniffed to make the others pay attention. “That is not just a white owl Fred, its species is of the snowy owls which usually live in the-” George interrupted him. “Blah, blah, blah. Thank you Percy for explaining.” Percy's face turned to the color of his hair. “I was just letting you know,” he says angrily and turns away towards the wall.  
“Boys!” The mother said. “Can you not tease Percy for one second?” Fred and George slumped against the wall. She turns to Harry. “Sorry dear, what did you say your name was?” Harry straightens. “I’m Harry, nice to meet you.” The mother smiles. “Nice to meet you too dear. I’m Mrs. Weasley, these are my children. Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and my youngest, Ginny.” When Mrs. Weasley said each of their names, the children gave Harry a small wave. Harry smiled back. “Are you going to er, Hogwarts?” he asks hopefully.

Mrs. Weasley smiles, “Why yes! All of my children will be attending this year, except Ginny.” next to her, the little girl frowned, making Harry think this was a sore subject. “The platform is just this way.” Mrs. Weasley points to the wall behind her. The twins laugh when they see Harry’s face. Percy looks at Harry apologetically and says “Mum, I don’t think Harry knows how to get to the platform.” Judging by all of the Weasley's confused faces, Harry guessed this was unusual.  
“Well, that’s alright, we’ll just show him.” Harry looks at the youngest boy. He had been deadly quiet this whole time until now. Mrs. Weasley nods. “Of course, thank you, Ronald.” She ruffles her son's hair. “You can go with Harry then!” Ron pushes her hands off his head. “Yes mum,” he mutters.  
Mrs. Weasley starts ordering her children into order. Harry stands nearby, quietly observing the controlled mayhem. It was clear that the Weasleys loved each other very much, and Harry couldn’t help but feel a pang of lonesomeness watching them. He quickly shakes it off though. I’m not going to be alone anymore, I have Draco and I’ll make more friends at school, he thinks to himself sternly. 

Soon, they were ready. For what they were ready for, Harry didn’t know, but he hoped they would get to the platform soon. Every time he glanced at the clock on the wall near them it seemed to be getting nearer and nearer to 11:00. He pushed his cart beside Ron, who seemed to be sleeping standing up. “Excuse me, Ronald?” Harry says and taps the boy's shoulder lightly.  
Ron jumps at the touch. “Wazzat?” he yelps. Harry smiles “Sorry Ronald, that is your name right?” he asks kindly. The boy yawns before saying “It’s Ron, my mum is the only one who calls me Ronald.” Ron squinted at Harry puzzledly. “And your Harry…” he pauses, waiting for Harry to tell him his last name. When he doesn’t reply, Ron goes on “You’ve never been to Platform 9 3/4? I’ve had to go every year since I was little.” Harry shook his head. “That’s actually why I woke you up. Where is the platform?”  
The sleepy boy points casually to the wall in front of the two boys. “Right there, we just go thruo-” he’s interrupted by George and Percy walking right through the wall and disappearing into it. “Just like that.” ignoring Harry’s shocked face, Ron continues as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. “We try to do it quickly as to not bother the Muggles.”

Next were Fred and Mrs. Weasley with Ginny in tow. The little girl giggled as she went through. Ron sighed and turned back to Harry, who was still gaping open-mouthed. “Harry, it’s our turn,” Ron says. The black-haired boy doesn't stop staring at the wall. A punch to his shoulder solves that. “Ouch!” Harry says, rubbing his sore appendage. “What did you do that for?” Ron laughs loudly.  
“Harry, you can’t be that surprised by magic every time you see it,” he says. Then Ron pushes his cart towards the wall, calling back “Come on, I’ll go first through the wall to show you how it’s done.” Harry shakes himself, knowing Ron was right and pushes the cart beside his new friend. “Sorry about that Ron, I’m kind of new to this whole thing,” Harry says sheepishly. Ron shrugs, “Don’t trouble yourself mate. Now, watch me.” With that, Ron confidently strode into the wall.

This time, Harry tried not to be surprised by the sudden disappearance, but a small gasp still escaped from his mouth. He took a calming breath and looked behind him at the normal people, muggles, milling around the station. In one more step, Harry would be in a whole new world with new people. 

He takes another quick breath before walking through the wall, fully expecting to run into bricks. Instead, it felt as though he was walking in a heavy mist. It only lasted a few moments before Harry stepped into the brightly lit train station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( A/N: Wow, that was a looooooooong chapter. It took almost a whole week to write with school and all.  
> Hello! I’m Ky, the author of |Just Like Magic|. Anyhow, I’m thinking of having a sort of Q&A soon. You can ask me questions about the characters, story, or even some things about me! Maybe to celebrate 10 chapters? Let me know what you think about that and we’ll see what happens ;) Thank you again, and see you all in the next chapter! ~Ky )


	6. Chapter Six: Boarding the Hogwarts Express

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and the Weasleys arrive at the platform.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well hello there. I’m back with another pretty long chapter. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay! I wanted to thank everyone for reading Just Like Magic and being patient while waiting for this chapter. Now, on with the show, or uh reading? Eh, you know what I mean. ~ky

With one more push, Fred and George hefted Harry’s trunk inside the train’s storage car. Both twins smiled, relieved. “That’s the last one of ours,” George said and wiped his sweating forehead with an already soaked shirt. “I can’t believe we had to lift five trunks all by our lonesome.” Fred smiled and then gasped. “Oh no, next year we’ll have to do six! With Ginny coming along.” The boys sighed wearily in perfect sync.

Harry and Ron laughed, the twins’ antics made the nervous feelings subside for a bit. It had taken a few moments, and a few more of Ron’s punches, to get Harry to stop staring. Now, with a very sore shoulder and wide eyes, he tried to get used to all the odd things around him. Students of all ages were with their parents, hugging, crying, and laughing. The older students huddled together in large groups, shouting over each other to tell their stories of the summer.  
Most students were already on the train. Boys and girls leaned out of windows, waving wildly and calling to relations. All this made the platform very loud indeed. The twins, Ron, and Harry pushed through the crowd, arriving at the other half of the group just as little Ginny was complaining.

“Can I please go, mum? Please, please, pleeeeeease?” she begs. George laughs and scoops the little Weasley into his arms. She squeals in delight. “Ginny, you aren't the only one who wants you to come,” George says, making Ginny look into his eyes. Fred joins them. “But we need to be able to warn everyone at Hogwarts that the great Ginny Weasley is coming.” Harry was surprised by their serious tone. Next to him, Ron whispers “Wait for it Harry, don’t be fooled.”  
Sure enough, Ginny starts to giggle madly as both Fred and his twin tickle her. Mrs. Weasley opened her mouth as if to yell at the boys but changed her mind. Ginny wasn’t the only one laughing, Harry and Ron snickered and even Percy showed the barest hint of a smile. Once again, Harry had to shake off his loneliness and remind himself of the opportunity to make friends at school.

Mrs. Weasley glances at a nearby clock. “Stop tickling your sister boys, it’s almost eleven!” George sets Ginny on the ground softly before tweaking her on the nose. “See you at Christmas alright? Be good.” Fred crouches at her ear. “Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do,” he says in a whisper just loud enough for everyone else to hear. Their mother starts to dig in her purse, all the Weasley children groan. “Mum, we don’t need the sandwiches,” Ron says pleadingly, “We had a big breakfast you know, I’m not hungry at all!”  
The other children murmured their assent. A chorus of “I’m not hungry either” filled the air. Harry looked at each of them, confused as to why anybody would not want food. Mrs. Weasley was about to say something when Ron’s stomach rumbles loudly. “Oh, Ronald! Everyone take a sandwich, and don’t walk away Percy! Come on then.”

Harry watches as his travel companions get in line to have Mrs. Weasley drop a plastic ball onto their freckled hands. They all tried to smile at their mother but Harry could see how each of the children quickly shoved the ball deep in their pockets behind their mother’s back. Mrs. Weasley hugged her kids tightly together and then said, “Better be off then. Make sure to be nice to professors-” she shot a look at the twins, who smiled mischievously. “And no funny business boys, I do not want to get a letter from the school that you’ve blown up a bathroom or something.”  
Fred and George nodded solemnly. “Of course mum,” George says and Fred cracks another wide smile. “Thank you for the idea! Bye!” Before Mrs. Weasley could get around to smacking them, the twins ran away towards the front of the train. “Those boys will be the death of me,” she grumbles under her breath.

Percy takes the moment to leave as well, saying a quick “Goodbye mum.” then walking to the nearest train car entrance. Then there were four. Harry sees Mrs. Weasley sniff back tears before turning to them. “You have fun boys,” she says and then hugs Harry, who though very surprised, hugged back. She pulls away quickly. “Now go on! The train leaves soon!” Harry and Ron nod and start to the back of the train.

“She’s usually not that emotional Harry,” Ron says while looking for an entrance that wasn’t blocked by students. “But almost everybody gone must have done it to her. Oh, there’s an open car.” He leads them into it, shoving other students out of the way unceremoniously. No one gave them a second glance except to grumble about having to move. Most of the compartments were only half full but when Harry asked, Ron replied with “I don’t want to meet anyone else yet, we’ll have the whole year. Is that alright with you?” and since he couldn’t argue with that logic, Harry nodded and followed Ron farther into the train car.  
The two boys came upon an empty compartment only a few minutes later. “This looks good.” Harry’s companion says and opens the door. “Finally, quiet at last.” Ron slumps onto the left cushioned bench. Harry takes the right bench, carefully setting his owl beside him. Hedwig hoots gratefully, now that she wasn’t in constant motion anymore she was finally able to sleep. It seemed that Ron was also trying to take a nap, as the freckled boy was now leaning against the wall and snoring softly.

To distract himself from the growing nervous pit inside his stomach, Harry looked out the rather large window next to him. This required Harry to push away his bangs from his eyes and forehead. It had been a few months since his last disastrous haircut from Aunt Petunia and the hair was almost to his shoulders. Now, with an unobstructed view, he peered at the parents still hugging their embarrassed kids. Harry made eye contact with an elderly man who was waving to an older girl in a compartment close to Harry’s. The man seemed puzzled at first, then his eyes grew wide with realization. He whispered to a lady next to him, and soon, there was a whole crowd of people looking at Harry, or rather, his forehead with wide eyes and even a few tears running down their faces.

Now Harry was really confused, was there something on his face? He retreated from the limelight and went to sit next to Ron. “Ron? Ron wake up!” Harry shook his sleeping friend’s shoulder gently. Ron only grunted in response but after more shakes that steadily became more urgent, he opened his eyes. “Wazzat?” Ron says grumpily. Harry pulls back his hair once again. “I’m getting some odd looks, and it’s only when they look at my face.” he looks Ron in the eyes and asks “Is there something on there Ron?”  
At first, the boy just grumbled about being woken up for something like this and how little sleep he had gotten last night but obediently inspected his new friend’s worried face. “Looks like you’ve got a scar, it’s weirdly shaped though,” Ron remarks. “It’s like lightning, really coo-” Harry pushes his bangs down and stares at Ron who was staring dumbfounded back at him. The air was charged with surprise and shock. “Y-Your Harry Pot-” Ron is interrupted by the door to their compartment slamming open, and a familiar pale-faced boy stumbling in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhangers are the worst huh? Mwahahahhaahhahahahah. Chapter 7 will *fingers crossed* be published in about 2 weeks? Maybe 3? Whenever it is, I can’t wait to see you then. Thank you for the kudos and comments! Farewell for now. :) ~ky


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